The present disclosure relates to a patient support apparatus, such as a hospital bed, for supporting a patient. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a deck section with an integrated foot panel.
Hospital beds known in the art are configured to move between a conventional bed position, wherein the patient support surface is generally flat, and a chair egress position, wherein the foot-end portion of the patient support surface is lowered so that a patient can egress or exit the bed from a sitting position. The length of the foot-end portion of the patient support surface that is lowered typically defines the minimum seat height of a bed in the chair egress position. It is often desirable to minimize the seat height of a bed in the chair egress position to facilitate safe patient egress from the bed.
In the prior art, when the foot-end of the patient support surface is lowered, the foot-end of the patient support surface has been retracted to minimize the bed seat height. Patient support surface retraction can require complex combinations of mechanical and electrical components to be integrated into a bed.